Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

To truly understand the concept of teamwork, one must know how to play the childhood game “train”. The game “train” can be seen as an effective metaphor to illustrate the concept of teamwork. As you may recall, you can participate in any portion of the train, but to truly be a part of the game (and for your friends to want to choose you to play with again) you can not always be the engine or the caboose, at some point you must be the annoying position of rail car in the middle, where you will trip over the feet of other people and your own, and you get to make no direct decisions. If you can accept your role as middle car, engine or caboose, you can embrace being a part of a team. Why is it that many people seem to forget the importance of the various roles as we become older? It seems that many people (ironically even those who view themselves as a “team player” always want to either lead or follow, with very few taking turns at a variety of roles.

On a site geared toward job interviews, called “How hard are you knocking?”

howhardareyouknocking.com I recently came across a set of potential questions designed to solicit team- oriented answers:

• How have you gone about developing a cohesive, high functioning team atmosphere in the past? How would you do it at my company?
• In your last position, how would your previous co-workers describe you? What was it like to work with you? What would they say about your collaboration and teamwork style?
• Give examples of how you’ve brought out the best in others in a team environment.
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult co-worker. What made him/her difficult? What did you do? What was the outcome?

Clearly, employers are seeking individuals who are able to work together as a team, but seldom do they acknowledge those who help to carry the load (as with the rail cars in the undesirable middle car), but do not care to necessarily run in the glory positions of engine or caboose.

Chris Widener (insider reports: Secrets of Successful Teams http://www.insiderreports.com/ ) explains that all of our relationships consist of teams and to be successful, each team must fulfill its essential components

Communication within Leadership & Team

• Excellence
• Followership
• Understanding Rules
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Fun
• Common Goal and Vision

Within each step through the teamwork model, you may be interchangeably the engine, the rail cars or the caboose. You must show flexibility, empathy and maintain open communication so that your train does not derail.

Storming Through

Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development

“Conflict is inevitable in a team ... in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict.”

To say that successful teams must endure conflict is an understatement. Conflict itself however is not the determining factor, but rather the successful resolution of that conflict. The team must come together through the conflict with an equitable compromise, which leaves each member accepting and satisfied with the solution. Sometimes the greatest obstacle is putting aside one’s own needs, wants or agenda to implement what is truly best for the team and the situation. By providing students with tried and true solutions or strategies with which to resolve conflict, teachers effectively provide them with useful lifelong coping skills which extend far beyond the experience of one classroom.

Activity Suggestions for Teachers

Change History Before It Repeats Itself!

Conflicts throughout history can be resolved in the context of classroom role-plays. The War of 1812, the American Civil War and the Red River Rebellion could probably have been resolved through effective conflict management. Allow students to dramatize these conflicts and reach a resolution rather than a rebellion.

Zinnia & Dot by Lisa Campbell Ernst (ISBN: 0140541993)

Review: From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-- With flawless phrasing and lively art, Ernst returns to her theme of competition's drive (nearly) overcoming good judgment. Two hens have such pride in their eggs that it overshadows all sense of perspective and results in the theft, by a wily and opportunistic weasel, of all but one of the eggs. The remaining one then becomes the source of even more rancor until a pair of mourning doves persuades the feuding females to share the responsibility of sitting on it. They do, but with comic results that lead, after all, to a happy ending. As in Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt (Lothrop, 1983) and Miss Penny and Mr. Grubbs (Bradbury, 1991), Ernst makes her point, but ever so gently. The pastel-and-ink drawings, filled with shades of browns and blues suggestive of a henhouse, depict plump, proud hens whose facial expressions and “feather language'' tell the tale as effectively as the words. A winning tale of a friendship that triumphs over vanity. --Jane Marino, White Plains Public Library, NY

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin (ISBN: 0689832133)

Dear Farmer Brown,
The barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets.
Sincerely,
The Cows

(From Amazon.com) When he refuses to comply with their demands, the cows take action. Farmer Brown finds another note on the barn door: "Sorry. We're closed. No milk today." Soon the striking cows and Farmer Brown are forced to reach a mutually agreeable compromise, with the help of an impartial party--the duck. But this poor, beleaguered farmer's "atypical" troubles are not over yet!

This hilarious tale will give young rebels-in-the-making a taste of the power of peaceful protest and the satisfaction of cooperative give and take. Witty watercolors by award-winning illustrator Betsy Lewin (Snake Alley Band, Araminta's Paint Box) will make this a favorite for one and all, even if words such as "ultimatum" and "neutral" throw the younger set. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

By using the stories as a springboard, primary teachers can remove personal issues from conflict and allow students to solve it in a “low risk” format. Simply stop the story at an opportune moment and divide students into groups- assigning roles from the story. Allow each group to present their suggestion in dramatic form, and discuss the solutions. Read the rest of the story and create poster sized “suggestions” to display on the walls of the classroom. When used in my grade 1-3 classes, students often recalled the posters when conflicts arose they would make a comment to their peers such as “You’re reminding me of a story…” and began to resolve their own conflicts.

Teambuilding With Senior Level Learners

Often older students have difficulty allowing themselves to interact as freely within groups and teams as they did when they were young. In my summer school classroom this year, I drew names each day for the “Opening” and “Closing” activities. The students had to choose “Energizer” activities of their design (can be borrowed from other sources as well). By giving them control over the daily event, they build community and bond together. This allowed an otherwise temporary and somewhat unknown group to bond and work together in groups, accomplishing collaborative goals.

Solutions for the workplace:

Consider the various scenarios that occur within workplaces and classrooms. Most situations where conflict occurs is where teamwork breaks down. Most often when people are fired from a job it is because they can’t get along with other people.

In an article on Job Stress and Workplace Culture Melissa C. Stöppler, M.D., questions issues of job stress, which can be problematic for people, one of which is teamwork. “Are projects and information shared freely, or are you expected to work entirely on your own? Are ideas shared at communal brainstorming sessions (formal or informal) or saved for one-on-one meetings with the boss? Are your coworkers pleased or offended when you offer suggestions about their work? If this seems unclear, you might consider discussing the level of expected teamwork with your colleagues. It's often easier to ward off office stressors and conflicts before they happen than to resolve them after they've occurred.” (http://specials.about.com/zxfcp0.htm?gs=stress&u=http://stress.about.com/cs/workplacestress/a/aa021901.htm )

While it may seem like “common sense” to some people to simply discuss matters with one’s co-workers, clearly individuals are not empowered with effective skills with which to resolve matters of conflict within workplace teams. Education gurus Barrie Bennett and Carol Rolheiser, have for years preached the skills of “Creative Controversy” within classrooms. By using literature and practicing conflict within the classroom, students can role-play and predict the outcome of conflict scenarios, thereby strengthening the teams within which they interact, both in their academic life and beyond.

Although it is often said that, “There is no “I” in TEAMWORK” the effective components of a team are the individuals who make up the roster. Each member of the team must be confident with their own skill set of both strengths and weaknesses to truly contribute to any collaboration.

Consider these questions & complete the activities for yourself.

• With whom do you work best? List 3 qualities you admire about them or that make them easy to work with
• List your top three pet peeves about co-workers or team members
• What is your teamwork style?
• What do you feel is the greatest asset you have to contribute to any team?
• What might you have to concede is your greatest hindrance as a team member?

By (honestly) assessing your skill set privately, you can consider which strengths and weaknesses you bring to the table, and perhaps work proactively to work through before they become a problem within a team effort.

One the most overlooked and yet the most important of the “Indisputable Laws of Teamwork”, (which in my opinion differ depending on the nature of the team and their task) has to be the appreciation of the work of the team by its own members. When was the last time you truly made an effort to congratulate a member of your team (whether that is a family member, co-worker, sport teammate, or classmate) on their performance- even if they have never done that for you…

In “Secrets of Successful Teams” Chris Widener (insider reports: Secrets of Successful Teams http://www.insiderreports.com/ ) suggests some strategies to work toward a goal of Appreciation as a conclusion of a team activity.

APPRECIATION
All through the “game,” successful teams appreciate one another and show it in a variety of ways. The coach shows it to the players, the players show it to the coach, and the players show it to one another.

Here is a “Successful Teams” Checklist for you to evaluate with.

• Is there communication between coach and players and from player to player?
• Is your team committed to excellence?
• Do those on the team know what it means to follow?
• Does everyone on my team know their specific role?
• Do the individuals on our team regularly operate out of their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses?
• Does our team take a break from time to time to just have fun together?
• Do we understand our common goals and vision? Can we all state it (them)?
• Is there a sense of and communication of genuine appreciation among my team?
  

Did you notice that coincidentally, most of these items also appear in the issues of workplace stress as mentioned in a previous section? The most important tool in your teamwork resource is the ability to actively appreciate others.

Kindness spreads- pass it on!

Teamwork links

Characteristics of teamwork & survey

Review of sites attached to teamwork and analyzing of teamwork

21st Century & Virtual teams

Activities for teachers

Heartquotes

Laying the foundation

Motivational quotes